India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in its 40th flight (PSLV-C38), launched the 712 kg Cartosat-2 series satellite for earth observation and 30 co-passenger satellites together weighing about 243 kg at lift-off into a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit (SSO). PSLV-C38 was launched from the First Launch Pad (FLP) of Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. This is the seventeenth flight of PSLV in 'XL' configuration (with the use of solid strap-on motors). The launch occured at 03:59 GMT on 23rd (11:59 p.m. EDT on 22nd).

PSLV-C38 Liftoff and Onboard Camera Video

The co-passenger satellites comprise 29 Nano satellites from 14 countries namely, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, United Kingdom and United States of America as well as one Nano satellite (NIUSAT) from India. The total weight of all these satellites carried on-board PSLV-C38 is about 955 kg.

Cartosat-2 series satellite

The 29 International customer Nano satellites were launched as part of the commercial arrangements between Antrix Corporation Limited (Antrix), a Government of India company under Department of Space (DOS) and the commercial arm of ISRO and the International customers.

PSLV-C38/Cartosat-2 Series Satellite Mission was launched on June 23, 2017 from SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.